The IPN develops a virtual cane and facial recognition glasses for the blind
A virtual cane and a vibrating belt are the projects that IPN researchers have developed, in collaboration with a specialist from the Computer Vision Center in Barcelona, to facilitate the movement of people with disabilities around the city. In addition, They also have glasses capable of recognizing the gestures and movements of the interlocutor to promote social interaction.
Researchers from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN) in Mexico, in collaboration with a specialist from the Computer Vision Center in Barcelona (CVC), They have developed a virtual cane, a vibrating belt and glasses for the blind.
The virtual cane and the vibrating belt will allow the visually impaired to determine the distance at which objects are located. The third, still in development, They are glasses that detect non-verbal information used in social interaction.
The virtual cane works through a smartphone to which a laser pointer is attached. The phone camera finds the laser point and calculates the distance between the person and the object. This information is sent to the user through vibrations, that increase in intensity as the distance to the object decreases, person or obstacle.
The belt is designed to make it easier for blind people to walk around the city avoiding objects above their heads., as can tree branches or air conditioning systems. The belt has a system that alerts you through vibrations of obstacles that may be found..
This belt integrates a sensor, which is responsible for detecting objects and verifying the existing distance, which is located connector to a small computer. It also has three vibrating motors that provide information to the user through vibrations.. The closer the objects are, the belt vibrates intensely.
Facial recognition glasses
Regarding the glasses, Researchers seek to improve them to reduce the social interaction problem that people with visual disabilities have., since according to their testimonies, They suffer anguish and stress because when interacting with other humans they do not know if they are paying attention to them. They will also be able to report the facial expression or head gestures of their interlocutor., and in this way you can imitate them. This process of reproducing the non-verbal gestures of the interlocutor is known as 'mirroring' and the objective is to increase the degree of cohesion and participation in the social interaction between the blind and their interlocutor..
The objective of these glasses is to determine the degree of attention of the interlocutor or the person in front of them by using non-verbal information such as gestures or head movements., Gaze direction and facial expression recognition.
The hardware is made up of glasses that integrate a high-definition camera connected to a microcomputer. Researchers are working on artificial vision algorithms using the camera that detects people in their environment in order to detect their facial movements, where it moves and determine the degree of attention of the interlocutor.
According to Bogdan Raducanu, researcher at the Computer Vision Center in Barcelona, these glasses, which are initially designed for people with visual disabilities, They would also have applications in other areas. “Autistic people could also benefit from this project, as well as people with Asperger's syndrome who have difficulty understanding colloquial verbal language.
The aim of these projects is to develop devices that surpass the functionalities provided by traditional white canes..
These devices have already been tested with adults. Now the next step is to adjust them to do it with children and, in the future, market it.
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